Happy Monday, Razzball faithful!

It’s fitting that some of us are celebrating Memorial Day today, seeing as I can remember when Gerrit Cole was healthy and dealing 98-mile-per-hour fastballs.

Wait, what? Is this photo from 2023? Is it from last week’s start? You’re saying Gerrit Cole IS healthy and STILL chucking 98 MPH fastballs?!

Yankee (and fantasy) fans rejoice!

So Gerrit Cole’s first big-league start in 569 days wasn’t one of those vintage double-digit strikeout ones, but it was good enough to get us fantasy managers excited. 6.0 IP, 2 hits, 0 ER, 3 BB, 2 K. 

Workin’ in the Cole Mine, indeed! And we didn’t even have to wash our hands! (But I would recommend it, anyway. Especially if you’re loading up on those concession stand jalapenos from the community condiment tray outside the bathrooms.)

We don’t need a lengthy breakdown for our Cole-miner, as we all know what kind of gems this guy is capable of cracking open when he’s on his game. With Cam Schlittler dominating hitters and Carlos Rodon returning a week before Cole did, the Yankees boast a 5-man rotation as good as any other in the league.

The question today is: Where does Gerrit Cole slot into the Top 100 Starting Pitchers list?

Well, first, as always, it’s a bit of business. The Razzball subscriptions are well worth the price of admission. This should be your go-to reference for the entire season. That resource that the other “experts” from other sites use as often as they look at Statcast or Fangraphs data? This is it.

Is Gerrit workin’ on a cool top SP50 appointment, or is it just another one of those crazy ideas of mine?

I guess we’ll find out in…

The Top 100 Starting Pitchers for 2026

MARMO RANK	Name	Team	Notes
1	Paul Skenes	PIT	Dumper? No way. More below.
2	Chris Sale	ATL	7 IP, 1 ER, 4 hits, zero walks, 8 Ks, ERA at 1.89. I know it’s too early to get miffed about the roadblocks in Cris Sanchez’s path to the NL Cy Young, but move aside already. And take that Dodger DH with you.
3	Cristopher Sanchez	PHI	Jumper! But not much room to Jump! More below.
4	Shohei Ohtani	LAD	5 IP, 0 ER, 5 baserunners, 4 Ks, ERA at 0.73, and his 8th homer as he DH’ed in this one. C’mon, bro. Make up your mind already. Do you want that Cy Young, or do you still want to dominate both sides of the game?
5	Yoshinobu Yamamoto	LAD	Game 1: 7 IP, 1 ER, 5 baserunners, 8 Ks, ERA at 3.32. Yoshi? You’re so cool. And with my star, we’re gonna rule. Game 2: Much of the same. 7 IP, 1 ER, 7 H, 1 BB, 3 Ks, and he lowered the ERA to 3.09.
6	Cam Schlittler	NYY	6 IP, 2 ER, 10 baserunners, 7 Ks, ERA at 1.50. A good old-fashioned pitching battle between this stud and the Blue Jays’ youngest star (Yesavage). Who cares that he lost the game? Lock these two in on your dynasty clubs if you haven’t already.
7	Jacob Misiorowski	MLW	6 IP, 0 ER, 3 hits, one walk, 8 Ks, ERA at 1.89. Good thing I was all in on Bubba Chandler instead of this guy. *insert Tommen window gif*
8	Zack Wheeler	PHI	6 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, BB, 6 Ks. 4-0. You know all is well again in the SP world when the only worry here is whether or not his name is spelled “Zack” or “Zach”. Up.
9	Bryan Woo	SEA	4.2 IP, 4 ER, 6 H, 1 BB, 4 Ks. Well, what do you expect when you’re starting on the road against a juggernaut like…wait. This was in KC? Against the Royals? Oh, boy. I’m glad I was writing this up and watching the NYY/TB game instead. Down a bit.
10	Nolan McLean	NYM	5 2/3 IP, 6 ER, ERA at 3.57. Noooooooooo. A few of the SP darlings took it on the chin last week, and this Nolan was no exception. Ouch.
11	Chase Burns	CIN	6 IP, 1 ER, 3 hits, zero walks, 9 Ks, ERA at 1.83. I mentioned last week how crazy it would be if we ended the season with a Top 3 of Schlittler, McLean, and Misiorowski, but Burns is right there, too.
12	Dylan Cease	TOR	Game 1: 5 IP, 5 ER, ERA at 2.98. Two Jumpers appointments two weeks in a row, along with a Top 10 slot, were playing with fire, so of course, he burned us this week. That ERA is still (barely) under 3.00 though! Game 2: He faced Mitch Keller in Toronto yesterday and gave up solo homers to Spencer Horwitz and Oneil Cruz before the coaching staff pulled him after 4.2 IP. The guys in the booth said it looked precautionary (he was still throwing 98 MPH just before he left), but any early exit is reason for at least a bit of concern. Down today just a bit. He could drop more next week if there’s an injury, though. EDIT: The 7th inning update was “mild left hamstring discomfort”, aka as good as it gets for an injury report.
13	Jacob deGrom	TEX	3.0 IP, 6 hits, 6 ER, 3 BB, 3 K. I don’t know what’s worse: (a) that he only gave us 3 innings, (b) that he allowed a half a dozen earned runs, or (c) that he lost to Grayson Rodriguez. (See? We DO give y’all a C every once in a while). Down a bit today.
14	Logan Gilbert	SEA	5.2 IP, 2 hits, 0 ER, 2 BB, 6 K. Friday night was a lesson in Loganometry. Both Gilbert and Henderson gave us strong starts. Up.
15	Kevin Gausman	TOR	6.2 IP, 6 hits, ER, BB, 8 K. Cobra chickens for the win! That’s 6 dubs on the year for the Canadian Goose-man, and production from an ace that a lot of folks wrote off in draft season.
16	Drew Rasmussen	TB	6 IP, 0 ER, 5 H, 1 BB, 4 Ks in a knock ‘em down, drag ‘em out matchup vs Ryan Weathers at Yankee Stadium. Whether he gets the win or not, it’s a quality start, and he keeps moving up every time that happens. Buy. EDIT: No-decision and yet another start with no run support.
17	Joe Ryan	MIN	6 IP, 1 ER, 4 hits, zero walks, 9 Ks, ERA at 3.02. Someone call Prison Mike at the trade deadline ‘cause this guy’s gonna be “the Belle of the ball”.
18	George Kirby	SEA	6 IP, 3 ER, 9 H, 0 BB, 3 Ks. Before anyone says Kirby isn’t an ace, let’s remember that Paul Skenes gave up 9 hits on Saturday, too, and only one of these two guys issued zero walks. Ha! Got heem!
19	Freddy Peralta	NYM	7 IP, 4 ER, 8 H, 2 BB, 9 Ks, and the loss to Liam Hicks (2 HR). It was really a loss to Max Meyer and the rest of the Marlins, though.
20	Nathan Eovaldi	TEX	7 IP, 3 ER, 5 H, 2 BB, 6 Ks. It seems weird that this dude is 5-5. He’s started 10 games and has zero no-decisions. The ERA and WHIP are still solid, though. (3.65 and 1.14, respectively).
21	Gavin Williams	CLE	He’s up a bunch after last week’s gem against Cristopher Sanchez. This is what happens when he limits walks. Jumper. More below.
22	Shane McClanahan	TB	5 IP, 4 ER, 8 baserunners, 6 Ks, ERA at 2.82. A bumpy waters trip through the iVictory Coast for the McClanahandler. But a 2.82 ERA is still pretty sweet. He benefited from a Trevor Rogers face-flop in this one.
23	Framber Valdez	DET	Game 1: 5 IP, 4 ER, 9 baserunners, 3 Ks, ERA at 4.58. Framber alert! Those Tigers need Skubal back, stat. Too bad they don’t have Verlander anymore. Oh wait…what? He’s on their roster? Game 2: A bit of Jeckyll after the Hyde earlier in the week. 6 IP, 1 ER, 2 H, 2 BB, 5 Ks, and his 3rd win. I won’t roster him anywhere because he drives me nuts, but when he’s on, he’s on.
24	Michael King	SD	Game 1: 7 IP, 0 ER, 6 baserunners, 9 Ks, ERA at 2.31. Michael looked at the Dodgers lineup and pshawed. Don’t come at the king. Game 2: Well, I poked the bear too much after the first start. 3.2 IP, 4 ER, 5 H, 4 BB, 4 Ks, and an A’s whipping (vs ATH). I don’t want to move him down too much more than here, though, because if I keep moving him down one or two spots, he’ll land just below Kyle Harrison. (Not yet).
25	Ryan Weathers	NYY	Game 1: 5 1/3 IP, 5 ER, ERA at 3.58. Just because it was 95* with the heat index last Monday, it doesn’t mean you have to get smoked in your start, too. If we ignore the Ryan that almost got torched by Homelander last week, this was the worst performance from a Ryan since our last update! Game 2: He took on The Boys from Tampa yesterday and was locked into a pitching battle with Drew Rasmussen. 7 IP, 0 ER, 4 H, 3 BBs, 4 Ks. FWIW, both starters ended up with a no-decision.
26	Trey Yesavage	TOR	6 IP, 0 ER, 2 hits, zero walks, 8 Ks, ERA at 1.07. There isn’t much more to say here other than you should have zero questions about auto-starting him everywhere and anywhere. Up today. To be honest, I want to move the SP25-27 above the SP22-24.
27	Jesus Luzardo	PHI	Jumper. More below.
28	Braxton Ashcraft	PIT	7 IP, 1 ER, 6 baserunners, 9 Ks, ERA at 2.89. No DLC needed for the World of Ashcraft. This guy’s game is providing top-tier content already. Up today.
29	Carlos Rodon	NYY	5 IP, 1 ER, 6 baserunners, 7 Ks, ERA at 4.15. So he pitched a strong game against the Jays at Yankee Stadium…and Jeff Hoffman got the save in a Toronto bullpen game shutout? Ya, because that makes sense. Thanks, baseball.
30	Kyle Harrison	MLW	7 IP, 0 ER, 3 baserunners, 11 Ks, ERA at 1.77. The only added note I had from last week was – “LOOK AT THE STATCAST PAGE”. Then, when I did, I wasn’t disappointed. (It’s almost as pretty as another one of our Jumpers below).
31	Shota Imanaga	CHC	Game 1: 4 1/3 IP, 8 ER, ERA at 3.38. When they said putting up zeroes is a good thing, they didn’t mean two zeroes on top of each other, Shota. Someone fire his interpreter. Game 2: It drives me crazy when these guys start on Sunday afternoon, get smoked again, and make me reshuffle the whole list. 6 IP, 7 ER, 7 H, 3 HR allowed, 1 BB, 3 Ks, and he drops a bunch because I’m annoyed. Lolz.
32	Emmet Sheehan	LAD	4 IP, 4 ER, ERA at 4.93. Oh no. I still can’t move on from him, but this kind of output moves him down a good bit today.
33	Sonny Gray	BOS	Game 1: 6 IP, 1 ER, 6 baserunners, 9 Ks, ERA at 2.93. Steady Eddie. Or Steady Sonny. Or maybe whatever says he’s consistently reliable and still Mr Underrated. Game 2: 4 IP, 3 ER, 6 H, 2 BB, 4 Ks, and one concerned MarmosDad. He threw 75 pitches, so maybe this was just a case of getting behind hitters and using too many pitches early on. There’s been no news otherwise, so let’s chalk this up to a decent outing short on a half a dozen outs.
34	Emerson Hancock	SEA	5 IP, 2 ER, 8 baserunners, 4 Ks, ERA at 3.07. I don’t know why I’m feeling all doom-and-gloom about this kid, but I can’t shake the thought that the M’s are going to mess with his innings.
35	Parker Messick	CLE	Game 1: 5 IP, 2 ER, 7 baserunners, 5 Ks, ERA at 2.45. I get a bit queasy when I don’t see him going 6+ innings, but that’s not enough to make Messick. Game 2: 5.2 IP, 0 ER, 5 H, 2 BB, 6 Ks. One more out would make this a lot prettier, but it is what it is.
36	Jose Soriano	LAA	6 2/3 IP, 2 ER, 7 baserunners, 7 Ks, ERA at 2.44. A nice little apology after last week’s Is It Too Late To Say Sori(ano). I hope a few of you were able to take advantage of the situation and add Jose in a trade with an overly reactive manager.
37	Gerrit Cole	NYY	This felt like the right spot to start him out, at least for this week. More above.
38	Robbie Ray	SF	4 1/3 IP, 9 ER, ERA at 4.28. Oh no. Robbie Ray did his best football homage to the San Fran club with that 9ER. Hopefully Sunday’s start is better. Spoiler: Sunday’s start was not better, in the conventional sense. 4 IP, 4 ER, 2 H, 3 Ks is better. But the 7 walks? Oh boy. Down.
39	Cole Ragans	KC	He started a rehab assignment on Saturday. Here’s hoping he’s back when eligible (this Friday).
40	Will Warren	NYY	5 IP, 3 ER, 7 baserunners, 3 Ks, ERA at 3.61. Grey mentioned it a few times now, but it’s tough to see Warren staying in the rotation now that both Rodon and Cole are back. I’d be fine seeing a 6-man rotation here, though, if not only to help manage expectations from the returning arms. EDIT: The Max Fried injury solves the 6-man rotation problems for now.
41	Payton Tolle	BOS	6.0 IP, 4 hits, 3 ER, 2 BB, 9 K, ERA at 2.45. Way back in February, the Red Sox rotation looked pretty full, and I mentioned on Mike and Jeremy’s AL East pod that I wouldn’t be surprised if Boston went out on a limb and tried Tolle out in relief. He would’ve made a great closer, and still might at some point in the future, but I’m glad they let him start.
42	Logan Henderson	MLW	5.0 IP, 2 hits, 0 ER, 3 BB, 7 K. That’s the second win of the year for the limbo chicken, aka MarmoDarling, Lo-Hen. Up.
43	Kyle Bradish	BAL	5 1/3 IP, 2 ER, 7 baserunners, 6 Ks, ERA at 4.13. This start was like an homage to a former teammate: The Drew Rasmussen special. At risk of cursing him, it looks like he’s turning it around.
44	Max Meyer	MIA	Jumper. More below.
45	Spencer Strider	ATL	6 1/3 IP, 3 ER, 6 baserunners, 9 Ks, ERA at 3.00. Why be a runner when you can be a Strider? Take it easy and smooth, moustachioed king.
46	Ranger Suarez	BOS	4 1/3 IP, 1 ER, ERA at 2.40. 13 outs? Did he walk five guys? (*checks notes* Nope, it was three). Seriously, though, he’s only allowed one ER in his last 4 GS. (21.2 IP).
47	Spencer Arrighetti	HOU	5.0 IP, 2 hits, 0 ER, 4 BB, 5 K, 6th W. He’s square in that group of Misiorowski, Gavin Williams, and Bubba Chandler with the sky-high strikeout upside and (varying) degrees of walk risk.
48	Connelly Early	BOS	6 1/3 IP, 3 ER, 7 baserunners, 5 Ks, ERA at 3.33. Early to bed and early to rise makes this sleeper less…uh…tired?
49	Mitch Keller	PIT	Two start week last week. Game 1: 5.2 IP, 4 ER, 4 H, 1 BB, 3 Ks. Game 2: 6 IP, 1 ER, 4 H, 3 BB, 5 Ks. I watched the second game (at TOR), and Keller looked every bit like the Mister Kwality start that we’ve been expecting every time out. He gets a juicy matchup vs MIN at home this week.
50	Connor Prielipp	MIN	4.0 IP, 7 hits, 5 ER, 3 BB, K. Prielipp ended up with a fat lip when he got shipped up to Boston last week. This is one of those “float out a buy low trade offer” kind of weeks.
51	Taj Bradley	MIN	5 IP, 1 ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 7 Ks. He’s 5-1. Nice to see him pitch well in his first start since returning from the IL and not throwing badly. He’s at CWS this week. It’s an easy substitution in the list (for Bubic).
52	Landen Roupp	SF	6 IP, 1 ER, 7 hits, zero walks, 3 Ks, ERA at 3.27. Someone asked last week if I’d prefer the RouppDogg or Connor Prielipp, and it was a tough one to answer. The easy response is the “why not both” gif. (If I had to choose one, though, I’d go with Prielipp).
53	Davis Martin	CWS	5.2 IP, 6 hits, 4 ER, 2 BB, 7 K. I’d say this was our “I told you so” moment with Martin’s worst start of the year, but it still netted him his league-leading 7th win.
54	Michael Soroka	ARI	6 IP, 1 ER, 4 H, 0 BB, 2 Ks, and a no-decision in a 3-2 loss to COL. He’s sitting at 6-2, and is easily on the short list for comeback pitcher of the year. Up.
55	Bryce Miller	SEA	5 2/3 IP, 0 ER, 1 hit, 1 walk, 7 Ks, ERA at 1.64. I said it last week. If Bryce Miller is healthy, he shouldn’t be splitting games with Luis Castillo or having an opener in front of him. Just a couple of years ago, there were some people who thought he was better than Bryan Woo.
56	Eury Perez	MIA	6.1 IP, 2 hits, ER, 5 K. Hey, anything with fewer than 4 ER, hits, and walks is a victory at this point, no matter how many innings he throws.
57	Bryce Elder	ATL	6.0 IP, 5 hits, ER, BB 4 K, ERA at 1.97. I’d say we should probably learn to respect our Elders, but he’s still just 27 years old. The 7.86 K/9 is fine, but it’s not earth-shattering. The sparkling ratios, though. That’s what we’re here for.
58	Sandy Alcantara	MIA	6 IP, 6 ER, ERA at 4.00. I know it’s ignorant to say I get this guy mixed up with Jesus Luzardo, but based on talent and promise alone both of these dudes are similar. Oh, and there’s that penchant for pulling out the rug from underneath us and posting a half dozen earned runs, too. Down today.
59	Nick Martinez	TB	6.0 IP, 9 hits, ER, BB, K. Nick-Mart is throwing a special on marshmallow launchers. If you’ve got Ks on lockdown, there are worse arms to help buoy the ratios. Strikeouts Schmikeouts. Up a bunch.
60	Nick Lodolo	CIN	5 2/3 IP, 3 ER, 8 baserunners (5 BBs), 3 Ks, ERA at 7.20. Someone asked if I’d start Lodolo against the Phillies last Monday, and I said I wouldn’t. The 5 walks were a repeat of the start before this one, and although I still have faith because his stuff is sick. If you don’t have the patience for it, I get it, though.
61	Michael Wacha	KC	6 IP, 1 ER, 8 baserunners, 8 Ks, ERA at 2.70. Stuttering Fozzie Bear is looking good again after a hiccup a few weeks ago. Wachanda forever! (That said, I’m sitting him vs NYY this week). Up a bunch today.
62	Tanner Bibee	CLE	8 IP, 1 ER, 4 baserunners, 4 Ks, ERA at 3.75. Up.
63	Merrill Kelly	ARI	6 IP, 3 ER, 8 hits, zero walks, 4 Ks, ERA at 5.71. Boring plays, folks! Up!
64	Randy Vasquez	SD	4 1/3 IP, 3 ER, ERA at 2.96. Not bad for a battle with The Avengers (LAD). I sat him in Perts like a chicken, though.
65	Joey Cantillo	CLE	5 2/3 IP, 0 ER, 6 baserunners, 6 Ks, ERA at 3.05. Can’t he, though? Oh, he most certainly can!
66	Casey Mize	DET	6 2/3 IP, 2 ER, 4 hits, zero walks, 4 Ks, ERA at 2.47. I remember when a lot of folks thought the Tigers future stud rankings used to go Mize, Matt Manning, the Skubal.
67	Bubba Chandler	PIT	5.0 IP, 2 hits, ER, 3 BB, 11 K. Oh, come on. Just when I thought I was out…He got tagged with his 6th loss of the season, though, so at least there’s that consolation if you sat him last week. Regardless, he’s up a bit today.
68	Seth Lugo	KC	6 IP, 2 ER, 7 baserunners, 5 Ks, ERA at 3.68. Start #1 was a success. His Sunday one against the Mariners?  Game 2: He outdueled Bryan Woo, and it wasn’t close. 6.1 IP, 3 ER, 6 H, 2 BB, 3 Ks, and the win. He was too high last week, so there’s some correction here, but the 2-4 record doesn’t tell the whole story. The lack of strikeouts is the toughest part.
69	Zebby Matthews	MIN	6 IP, 2 ER, 5 hits, zero walks, 6 Ks, ERA at 1.38. Everyone’s favorite purple alien is putting up another QS. Zeb! In other news, take the kids to see the Mandalorian movie. Mine loved it. (My kids, not my Mandalorian). Up a bit today.
70	Peter Lambert	HOU	5 IP, 3 ER, 5 H, 4 BB, 5 Ks, and his 3rd win of the year (at CHC). He managed to sneak around 9 baserunners and ride 8 runs of support to the W.
71	Andrew Abbott	CIN	5 1/3 IP, 1 ER, 6 baserunners, 3 Ks, ERA at 3.97. This guy feels like he went to the Merrill Kelly school of snooze, but when he’s on, he’s limiting the earned runs. That’s better than a lot of other flashier, just as volatile arms.
72	Ryne Nelson	ARI	Game 1: 7 IP, 3 ER, 10 baserunners, 3 Ks, ERA at 5.19. He feels like one of those arms that has more talent than results right now, so I get it if your patience has run out. Game 2: If you were patient, it paid off. 6 IP, 0 ER, 5 H, 3 BB, 3 Ks, and in line for the win after Arizona lit Jose Quintana up for 8 ER in 1.1 IP. Up.
73	Justin Wrobleski	LAD	5 IP, 5 ER, 8 H, 2 BB, 4 Ks. He’s had a tough run of 3 starts (19.2 IP, 22 H, 14 ER). That carriage may be turning into a pumpkin. Down.
74	Reid Detmers	ANA	5.2 IP, 8 ER, 8 H, 2 BB, 8 Ks. Crazy eights. He’s not terrible, but he’s lost 4 out of his last 6 starts and hasn’t won a game since April 14th. Uh…maybe I should revisit that “He’s not terrible” proclamation. His second game of the week was the late one last night, after my final edits. I’m guessing he won’t dismantle the Rangers, but that’s a dangerous assumption. Down.
75	Foster Griffin	WSH	Game 1: 5 IP, 5 ER, ERA at 4.02. Oh, would you look at that. It’s Regression o’clock. Game 2: Not so fast! After throwing 21 pitches in the first inning yesterday, Griffin settled in and spun a solid one in Atlanta. The only thing that officially beat Griffin yesterday was the rain. He went 6 IP, 0 ER, 3 H, 1 BB, 6 Ks before the heavens opened up and the rain delay hit.
76	Noah Schultz	CWS	Game 1: 5.1 IP, 3 ER, 5 H, 0 BB, 6 Ks. A good start to the week despite the loss. Game 2: 4 IP, 4 ER, 6 H, 1 BB, 1 K, and one Razzball writer thinking he might get sent back down if things keep going as they have been.
77	Edward Cabrera	CHC	3 IP, 1 ER, ERA at 4.00. Out with the dreaded “water-finger bubble”.’ Oof. EDIT: I checked in on Andy_p’s Two Start Pitcher Rankings yesterday, and saw that EdCab was headed to the IL. That makes this an even bigger “Oof”. He drops a ton today.
78	Shane Baz	BAL	6 IP, 1 ER, 2 H, 3 BB, 6 Ks, and the no-decision is a solid start. He’s getting shafted a bit today with no boost, but I don’t believe…yet. He hasn’t won a game since April 28th.
79	Brandon Sproat	MLW	Game 1: 4 2/3 IP, 3 ER, ERA at 5.75. Need some more sunshine to give those Sproat roots some room to grow. Game 2: He kept pace with Yamamoto through 4 innings, but couldn’t escape the 5th. 4 IP, 3 ER, 4 H, 4 BB, 7 Ks.
80	Mackenzie Gore	TEX	Left his first start of the week with lat tightness. When a starting pitcher sucks for a few starts, I always envision coaches in the clubhouse flipping a coin with “LAT” on one side and “OBLIQUE” on the other. Looks like an IL stint. EDIT: The MRI came back negative, and he was scheduled to throw the late game on Sunday, after my final edits.
81	Christian Scott	NYM	Game 1: 4 IP, 3 ER, and out at 81 pitches, ERA at 4.12. I saw some folks talking about how they’re out on Scott until next year because there’s no way he’s ready enough to give us 6 innings consistently. I get it, but I also said last week that it’s baffling how these kids are professional athletes and almost every club babies them through their first few years. 81 pitches for 4 innings means baseball is hard at the big league level, I guess. Captain Obvious. Game 2: 5.2 IP, 0 ER, 4 H, 2 BB, 5 Ks, and a no-decision. At least they let him throw 94 pitches yesterday.
82	Grant Holmes	ATL	5 IP, 2 ER, 6 H, 2 BB, 10 Ks, and a tough loss to Jake Irvin and the Nats. Up today.
83	Trevor Rogers	BAL	Dumpers. More below.
84	Bailey Ober	MIN	5 IP, 4 ER, 6 H, 0 BB, 3 Ks at Fenway. I guess it’s a small consolation to know that I wasn’t the only one caught holding the bag on Ober this week. And it could’ve been worse. But still. Woof.
85	Griffin Jax	TB	5 IP, 1 ER, 4 baserunners, 6 Ks, ERA at 3.54. 62 pitches in this one means he’s stretched out enough for the rotation. It’s kind of wild how quickly he flipped the switch back from reliever to starter. He’s in today and will move up quickly if he can keep up the stamina.
86	Noah Cameron	KC	6.0 IP, 4 hits, 0 ER, 2 BB, 8 K. That’s the start of the year for one of Team Two First Names alternate captains.
87	Lucas Giolito	SD	5 IP, 0 ER, 4 H, 5 BB, 2 Ks. Issuing five free passes is never a good thing, but if they don’t score, it feels like one of those “If a tree falls in the forest…” kind of things. No harm, no foul here. And his 2nd win in two starts since his activation. Up.
88	Roki Sasaki	LAD	Jumper. More below.
89	Zac Gallen	ARI	Game 1: 6 IP, 2 ER, 5 baserunners, 5 Ks, ERA at 4.78. I don’t know how many quality starts this dude is going to need to escape the SP90-100 purgatory, but it’s a lot more than one. Game 2: 5.1 IP, 3 ER, 6 H, 2 BB, 6 Ks, and his 3rd win. I’m sure this dude drives you crazy, just as he does with me. One week, I feel like he should be off the list. Next week, I feel guilty that I have him too low. Can you guess which week this one is? Up a bit.
90	Stephen Kolek	KC	Jumper. More below.
91	Luis Severino	ATL	7 IP, 2 ER, 3 hits, zero walks, 10 Ks, ERA at 4.23. Sevvy the savant. Or at least the guy who shows up with a bit of red on his savant page.
92	Cade Cavalli	WSH	7 IP, 2 ER, 5 baserunners, 9 Ks, ERA at 3.86. CC just pumping beats in the music factory and pumping fastballs by Mets hitters (in a 2-1 loss).
93	Sean Burke	CWS	4.2 IP, 2 ER, 4 H, 3 BB, 6 Ks. That’s three straight starts without finishing the 5th inning. He’s down today because too many guys below him deserve a higher slot.
94	Jack Leiter	TEX	5 IP, 4 ER, 7 H, 2 BB, 5 Ks. See the write-up directly above this.
95	Patrick Corbin	TOR	Added today after outdueling Paul Skenes. This is not a joke. More below.
96	Ben Brown	CHC	I had an uneven number of adds and drops, so I had to cut someone else to fit Brown in. Sorry, Aaron Civale.
97	Keider Montero	DET	5 IP, 3 ER, 2 H, 4 BB, 1 K. Sorry, bro. Not good enough. Down.
98	Eduardo Rodriguez	ARI	7 IP, 0 ER, 5 baserunners, 4 Ks, ERA at 2.24. I’ll say one thing: he likely deserves a spot more than his buddy Zac Gallen does. EDIT: He gets the spot vacated by the optioned Robert Gasser.
99	Brady Singer	CIN	His home start was washed out yesterday, so he gets at least one more week to survive the chopping block.
100	Dustin May	STL	5 1/3 IP, 4 ER, 8 baserunners, 7 Ks, ERA at 5.00. I said last week that I should’ve added him in, then he went out and didn’t throw a shutout. Grumble. Well, I went against my instinct today and added him to the bottom anyway.

JUMPERS (Players who jumped up the list this week).

Jesus Luzardo – Here’s the first part of my note from the week:  6 IP, 2 ER, 7 baserunners, 5 Ks, ERA at 4.85. Hey, it’s better than 7 ER, 5 baserunners, and 2 Ks. This is going to sound silly, but I swear I wrote “Check the savant page” in that note just so I had some kind of springboard to launch off of – and it didn’t matter whether it was a nice red one or a frosty blue one. Well, all you fans of religious reptiles can rejoice, because…

bUt wHaT AbOuT tHaT eXtEnSiOn?!

Gavin Williams (and) – 8 IP, 0 ER, 4 H, 0 BB, 11 Ks against a tough Philly offense. This is what it’s like when the guy is in control and straight up dealing. Dan wrote him up and linked a couple of clips, so I’ll just leave one link below Sanchez for today. 

Cristopher Sanchez – 8 IP, 0 ER, 4 H, 0 BB, 6 Ks. He and Gavin were havin’ a pitcher party! 

Gavin Williams and Cristopher Sanchez are the first opposing starters to each have a scoreless start of 8+ innings since 5/14/24 Ryan Weathers v Reese Olson

— Sarah Langs (@slangsonsports.bsky.social) 2026-05-23T00:44:23.397Z

Max Meyer – Game 1: 6 IP, 0 ER, 5 baserunners, 6 Ks, ERA at 2.85. “My Miami all-star SP? Spelled M-E-Y-E-R”. No Bologna. UP! Game 2: 7 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 3 BB, 7 Ks, and the win. And he’s sitting at 5-0. The “he’ll be starting the NL All-Star Game” joke was fun, but it’s starting to seem less like a joke and more like a reality every time he posts a start like this one. He’s not Cristopher Sanchez or Chris Sale, but he’s also not going to be sitting at home when we get to the second week of July. 

Stephen Kolek – 9 IP, 0 ER, 4 H, 1 BB, 2 Ks, and his 3rd win in 4 starts. These big weeks from pitchers can really throw a wrench into the Top 100 plans. He went from a monitor last week, to a Stumper after last Sunday, to an add-to-the-list after this game. Life comes at you fast (not to be confused with his 93 MPH fastball). He’s like the Nick Martinez of Kansas City. Or is that Michael Wacha. Ok, he’s the Michael Wacha of… never mind. Just add him.

Roki Sasaki – No, seriously. Stop laughing! 5 IP, 2 ER, 4 H, 2 BB, 4 Ks. Uh oh. That’s back-to-back wins for the man with the golden arm. He threw 54 of his 73 pitches for strikes and topped out at 99.5 MPH. 

You know we’re in trouble when I start sharing Roki Sasaki Statcast snips. Guess who’s back in on Roki!? For the record, though, this week’s start at home against PHI will be a big test.

Patrick Corbin – Now I’m really serious! Stop laughing! 6 IP, 1 ER, 5 H, 0 BB, 7 Ks, and his 2nd win. 

HAHAHA! FUNNY STUFF! Ok, now switch his pitching line back with Skenes’ and let’s carry on. This is just like everyone predicted, right? Makes sense, yes? The good news is this unequivocal proof that there is a multiverse and there’s been some sort of weird crossover.

(And yes, I left the Jeff Hoffman bit in there to both drive home that point and to give our bullpen guy, JKJ, a smile).

DUMPERS (Players who dropped down the list this week).

Paul Skenes – 5 IP, 4 ER, 9 H, BB, 2 Ks, and his 4th loss. The 9 hits are the most he’s ever given up. This year? No. Ever. At least Livvy made the trip to Toronto to cheer on the Allegheny Ace in the concrete bowl formerly known as Skydome.

I’m gonna guess Livvy’s response was how more than a few of us who roster Skenes were reacting on Saturday, too. 

I know he’s a Dumper today, but I can’t justify moving him below Sale or Sanchez just yet. Call me a liar. I’m ok with it.

Trevor Rogers – So it started like this (on April 30th): illness, IL appointment retroactive to April 25th, simulated bullpen on May 9th, reinstatement on May 12th. Then, one could say it ended like this: a combined two-start total of 7.2 IP, 13 ER, 14 H, 5 BB, 2 HR allowed, 6 Ks. ERA at 6.87. WHIP at 1.66. 

Whatever antibiotics he took for that illness, it sure didn’t resolve his Gopheritis. Two homers allowed in two starts isn’t a huge deal, but this is a guy who is now up to 29 ER in 39 IP in 2026.

If you’ve been following along, he had just 22 ER last year…in 109.2 innings. 

I don’t need to spell it out to anyone here, but especially not for the O’s fans in attendance, when I say a big, old Dubya Tee Eff is going on with this guy? Send reinforcements now. Maybe Baltimore can ask the Angels if they want a do-over for the Taylor Ward/Grayson Rodriguez trade.

Kris Bubic – His start on May 14th was rough – 4 IP, 5 ER, 5 H, 3 BB, 4 Ks – and I said last week that the Bub-itchers weren’t going to like me dropping him down. Well, they’re going to be even more upset about the IL appointment last Monday. It’s officially “left elbow soreness”, and there is some optimism that he’ll only be out for a short while, but he’s off the list today until we hear official good news.

J.T. Ginn – He’s a guy who slipped through some cracks and went straight from the shadows to Top 100 contention. 8 IP, 2 ER, 3 baserunners, 10 Ks, ERA at 2.98. A no-hit bid with double-digit strikeouts means he needs to replace one of our bottom feeders this week. Well, that was the first start note. Game 2: 2.1 IP, 2 ER, 0 H, 6 BB, 4 Ks, and the loss. Well, so much for building off the momentum from that first start of the week. This may be the first time someone went from no lists to the Top 100 to the Stumpers all in the span of a few days. I put him in our Dumpers group today just because that second start was bad enough to fit him in at the end here.

STUMPERS (These names might stump you as to why they aren’t on the Top 100…yet. Some of these guys are close).

Jonah Tong – 3.0 IP, BB, 2 K. I wondered if they’d give him the call when Clay Holmes went down. He topped out at 98.5 MPH. Now the Canadian Cannon just needs to show he can handle the big league workload. Stumper today with a good chance to crack the list next week.

Drew Anderson – 4 2/3 IP, 0 ER, 4 baserunners, 7 Ks, ERA at 3.98. He’s a new Stumper today. Complete with sparkly monocle and FAAB queue priority in those 15 teamers. 

Jameson Taillon 

Dean Kremer 

Kai-Wei Teng – 6 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 3 BB, 6 Ks. He’s a newbie (at least to the rotation), so it’s Stumpertown for now. And I’ll forewarn you about the inevitable Foreigner pun lede next week if he has another good start at TEX. 

Kyle Leahy – 5 IP, 5 ER, 7 H, 2 BB, 8 Ks. Mister Leahy gave us a bunch of strikeouts, but the rest of the line was worse than one of Randy’s burnt cheeseburgers.

Kendry Rojas

Slade Cecconi

Walbert Urena – 5 IP, 1 ER, 5 H, 3 BB, 6 Ks, and a Stumper add today. Let’s give him a couple more starts before I try to Photoshop his head on a little orange video game character from 1982. 

Jacob Lopez

Martin Perez –  5 IP, 4 ER, 7 baserunners, 10 Ks, ERA at 2.85. Cool. Now, someone tell Spencer Strider to take off the Martin Perez jersey. Game 2: 5.2 Ip, 1 ER, 5 H, 2 BB, 2 Ks. That’s more like it. But, still, we’re going to have to acknowledge the 2.70 ERA and 1.03 WHIP at some point.

Robby Snelling – Headed for Tommy John surgery. Ah-booooooooo. 

Lance McCullers Jr. – Off to the land of the ILs.

Brandon Pfaadt 

Chris Bassitt 

David Peterson – 5 IP, 1 ER, 7 baserunners, 3 Ks, ERA at 5.03. Grey mentioned that Peterson’s May has actually been pretty solid (10.6 K/9, 2.50 ERA), but that he’s also not an add just yet. Stumper. 

Andre Pallante – 6 IP, 1 ER, 2 H, BB, 3 Ks. One of these days, I need to watch a start just to help nudge myself towards rescuing him from the Stumper list. 

Michael McGreevy – 5 IP, 3 ER, 11 baserunners, 1 K, ERA at 2.40. Serious question – Why doesn’t McDonald’s have poutine yet? McGravy would be pretty McFilthy. In a good McWay. 

Trevor McDonald

Tomoyuki Sugano

Janson Junk – 5 IP, 8 ER, ERA at 5.07. Too bad the family name wasn’t “Sparklingratios”. 

Carmen Mlodzinski – 5 IP, 0 ER, 5 baserunners, 1 K, ERA at 3.96. He and McGreevy with 5 IP and a single strikeout apiece, just because it would be an even bigger boot to the gut if they had recorded three more outs and made it a quality start. 

Stephen Kolek

Kumar Rocker – 7 2/3 IP, 0 ER, 6 baserunners, 7 Ks, ERA at 3.60. Don’t make me add him again. Please. Just don’t.

Colin Rea – 7 IP, 3 ER, 4 H, 3 BB, 4 Ks. Hey, at least it’s a QS.

Jack Kochanowicz

Jeffrey Springs 

Jack Flaherty 

Jake Irvin – 5 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, BB, 7 Ks. Five no-hit innings with that many strikeouts should mean he at least gets consideration for a spot in the bottom 10. There’s a point where the subjectivity of this stuff becomes a driving force behind the rankings. If Irvin does this again this week, maybe he gets a sniff. But he’s the kind of arm that I’d still only stream in a very lopsided matchup. 

BUMPERS (Injured starters or minor league guys who could or would bump others off the list if they were active on the big league roster).

Shane Bieber

Joe Musgrove

Justin Steele

Cristian Javier

Joe Boyle

Hunter Brown

Hunter Greene

Spencer Schwellenbach

Zach Eflin

Johan Oviedo

Grayson Rodriguez – 5.2 IP, 7 hits, 4 ER, 2 BB, 5 K. It wasn’t great, but the win helps those fantasy squads that needed it (yes, my TGFBI team is on that list). He’s right there on the bubble and could bump someone today in an edit. EDIT: I went with his brother, Eduardo Rodriguez, instead.

Cody Ponce

Cade Horton

Shane Smith

Quinn Priester

Clarke Schmidt

River Ryan

Corbin Burnes

Gerrit Cole

Pablo Lopez

Tatsuya Imai – 4 2/3 IP, 3 ER, ERA at 8.31. 8/31? Is that the date when we check in on Imai to see why he’s been sidelined with an oblique injury for two months? 

Kade Anderson

Nick Pivetta

Andrew Painter – Game 1: 6 IP, 2 ER, 5 baserunners, 3 Ks, ERA at 5.77. You can’t throw mud at a canvas for weeks, then turn it sideways and call it art, Painter! Game 2: 6.1 IP, 2 ER, 6 H, 2 BB, 3 Ks. He was in tough against Cleveland and Parker Messick yesterday. Either way, it’s almost a carbon copy of his first start of the week, and he’s making me think he should be closer to jumping back on the list than he is today.

Thomas White

Ryan Pepiot

Jose Berrios 

Justin Verlander

Reese Olson

Mick Abel

Didier Fuentes

Garrett Crochet

Brandon Woodruff

Tarik Skubal

Tyler Glasnow

Steven Matz – 4 IP, 1 ER, ERA at 3.70. Good news! The Matz-a-ball is back on! Your season is saved! (Note: if you think Steven Matz’s activation means your fantasy season is saved, you may want to reconsider your list of hobbies). 

Max Scherzer

Kodai Senga

Brayan Bello – 5 IP, 0 ER, 8 H, BB, 5 Ks, and the no-decision after following opener Jovani Moran. 

Matthew Boyd

Logan Webb

Braxton Garrett – 4 1/3 IP, 8 BB, one minor-league demotion. Bye! 

Yusei Kikuchi – placed on the 60-day IL with shoulder inflammation, Kik-ouchi.

Griffin Canning 

WHEE! – These players vaulted onto the Top 100 list this week.

Gerrit Cole

Taj Bradley

Stephen Kolek

Griffin Jax

Ben Brown

Patrick Corbin (no, seriously)

Dustin May

OOF! – These players fell off the Top 100 list this week.

Max Fried – I really didn’t want to remove him, and was hoping the bone bruise was minor. The team said he’d be shut down from throwing “for a few weeks”, and that’s enough for a bounce from the list this week. At least Cole and Rodon are back.

Kris Bubic – IL – see above (Dumpers)

Mike Burrows 

Luis Castillo – Well, if you’re in a holds league, I’ve got good news for you.

Aaron Civale – He doesn’t deserve to get bounced after just one crummy start, but it was only a matter of time before we got the 5 IP, 5 ER, multiple home runs allowed outing. Ben Brown takes his spot today.

Aaron Nola

JR Ritchie – 4 IP, 6 ER, ERA at 4.91. Someone call the Fonz. Ritchie is in trouble. EDIT: Optioned to the minors and removed from the list.

Robert Gasser – Optioned to the minors and removed from the list.

 

That’s all for this week! I hope you enjoyed it! If you’re feeling extra fired up about some of the names I do (or don’t) have here, drop some comments in the chat. Have a great week!

 

Follow me @marmosdad on Twitter/X and Bluesky @marmosdad.bsky.social